


A thousand years

by GaneWhoo



Series: Supercat prompts and Co [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: About Kara outliving everyone else, Age and death talks, F/F, Sisters talks, semi-angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 01:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9944009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaneWhoo/pseuds/GaneWhoo
Summary: Alex is wise beyond her years, despite her somewhat fierce temperament.She rushes forward whenever the people she loves are in danger, thinking of a plan in a matter of seconds and putting it to execution right away and sometimes, it’s hard to follow her.She’s a storm and she waltzes in and out but sometimes, sometimes she doesn’t.Sometimes, she just takes a step back and she studies the world around her.She takes in details no one else seems to notice and she’s become something of a walking library of facts, information and unalterable truths, ones she keeps to herself because it’s not important.It never is, until some day, one of those truths she’s never voiced just explode in front of her.[...]Her voice is soft and gentle but the words are still a blow.“You’re going to survive her, you know?”





	

Alex is wise beyond her years, despite her somewhat fierce temperament.

She rushes forward whenever the people she loves are in danger, thinking of a plan in a matter of seconds and putting it to execution right away and sometimes, it’s hard to follow her.  
She’s a storm and she waltzes in and out but sometimes, sometimes she doesn’t.

Sometimes, she just takes a step back and she studies the world around her.

She takes in details no one else seems to notice and she’s become something of a walking library of facts, information and unalterable truths, ones she keeps to herself because it’s not important.

It never is, until some day, one of those truths she’s never voiced just explode in front of her.

—

Friday night, she’s at the Grants for dinner and she’s nursing a glass of Scotch when Carter arrives.

He’s tall and strong and the smile of his lips is one of happiness as he says hi to her. She smiles back at him and there’s a voice in her head that wonders «when did he become so adult». She shrugs and asks about college, science, engineering and stuff she knows about. He’s a prodigy, a genius and Maxwell Lord and Lena Luthor only have a few years left to savor their glory before the next Grant barges in their field to take them down.

Then, she hears the door opens and closes and soon enough, Cat Grant is making her way across the living room and towards the kitchen, where Kara is making dinner.

“Hi Alex.” She says with a wave of her hand but her attention is elsewhere. The smile she’s directing at Kara is tender, soft and loving but it crinkles her face and Alex is suddenly aware of each creases and cracks that break Cat’s carefully applied makeup.

She feels like an intruder because it is not something she’s supposed to see but there it is. Age, dripping from Cat’s face, from Cat’s whole body and there’s something in her eyes that tells Alex she’s self-aware.

Kara doesn’t seem to notice and Alex adverts her eyes when they kiss, focusing back on Carter. She wonders if Kara realizes, all the implications of dating Cat, truly realizes.

—

Dinner is full of laugh and love, punctuated by Cat’s sassy comments and Alex’s sneaky comebacks and it’s soft and warm, it’s domestic.

Carter yawns and says goodbye to them, leaving Alex, Cat and Kara to sip at their alcohol in the living room. Cat is sat down on one of the couches, Kara laying sideways with her head on her lover’s lap and Alex is facing them, comfortably settled in a pushy armchair. She’s nursing another glass of Scotch and she’s a little dizzy but it’s familiar and good.

Cat asks about Maggie and Alex answers with a smile, the conversation flowing very easily between them. It had taken her months to be okay with the idea of her baby alien sister dating the powerful CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media but in the end, she’s come to learn how to like Cat. She wouldn’t admit it out loud but she actually considers the Queen of all media like someone close. Maybe even a part of her little makeshift and carefully selected family.

Kara is content to just chime in from time to time but she doesn’t move and Alex is sure she would purr if she was a cat. Alex watches as Cat’s fingers are gently caressing her sister’s blond hair and then, she notices it. She sees the faint brown age spots, the way the veins start to have a certain relief, the delicacy of bones that are not as strong as they once were.

Alex looks away and sips at her alcohol. They talk and talk and Alex sees the cracks and flaws of Cat’s body slowly stand out under the dim light of the living room.

In the end, Cat leaves after wishing them goodnight.

Alex drinks and drinks and she pours herself another glass, aware of her sister’s deep blue eyes on her. The unvoiced truth is caught in her throat and she doesn’t want to let it out but then Kara tilts her head to the left and she knows she can’t keep it for herself anymore.

Her voice is soft and gentle but the words are still a blow.

“You’re going to survive her, you know?”

—

Kara refuses to talk about it and she leaves it alone.

She knows her sister will come to her once she’s ready.

It takes a month and a near-death experience for that to happen.

—

Kara’s sprawled on her couch, a cushion over her face and Maggie gives her a knowing look before announcing she’s going to the alien bar. Kara doesn’t even try to say she can stay and the lieutenant closes the door behind her.

Alex sighs and comes to sit beside her sister, moving Kara’s feet to put them on her lap, so she can stroke them while they talk.

“I know she’s going to die, eventually.”

The words are strangled and strained with one too many emotions, but Alex stays silent. She is wise and used to be around Kara so she knows, she knows she can’t push her sister. Kara will talk on her own terms.

“Don’t you think I know that? I knew, even before we were a couple, that I would outlive her.” Kara says and this time, the tone is a little stronger but the emotions are swirling and spinning in her inflections, in the way she doesn’t really ask the question.

Alex hesitates and she grabs one of her sister’s feet to massage it before gently, so ever gently, speaking again.

“It’s not just her, Kara.”

She hears the sob and she feels it at the same time, her sister’s whole body shaking under the violence of it. She pushes a little harder on Kara’s skin, knowing it helps her to relax a little but she knows nothing can really calm the superhero now.

“I’m going to lose everyone all over again, Alex, I know that.” It’s heavy, so heavy in Alex’s ears and she swallows a sob of her own because she needs to be strong for her little sister. She remembers the little girl that came to live with them when she was a teenager, she still dreams of those haunted and devastatingly sad deep blue eyes some nights. She knows Kara still has nightmares where she sees Krypton die, over and over and over again and out of everyone else in Kara’s life, she understands why her sister’s always trying to avoid the subject.

“I know, Kara. I know.” She doesn’t offer some lies about it, it would be insulting the both of them and she hates false hope.

“I’m going to be there, standing at everyone else’s funerals and … Year after year, people are going to die and I will end up … alone. I will have to deal with … with the aftermaths.” Kara’s voice is low, so low and desperate, Alex clenches her jaw to swallow another wave of sadness.

“I know. You will be there because you will honor each and every single one of us, you will be there to celebrate our lives and how lucky we were to have been around you, Kara.” She says and it’s soft and warm and it’s peaceful. She realizes she’s made peace with her upcoming death and that she’s more worried about Kara than anything else, really.

“Don’t … Don’t say that.” The words are choked up and Alex reaches to take the cushion off of her sister’s face.

Oh, she should have let it where it was.

Kara’s deep, deep blue eyes are a stormy torrent and tears are rolling down at their corners, heavily falling on the couch’s fabric underneath her. She’s crying silently and her whole body jerks and jumps from the sheer force of her chagrin.

It’s desperate and unavoidable, there’s a tragedy caught in the drenched eyelashes, a faith worse than death shining in the tears and oh, it’s heart-wrenching to see those baby blue eyes reflect all the funerals they will someday witness.

Alex sees so many coffins and black clothes, she sees rains and winters, she sees ashes and dust and ruins and she sees a forever that tastes like bittersweet agony.

She’s not breathing and it takes her lungs to burn with the lack of oxygen for her to realize she needs to inhale. Kara watches her and there’s a knowing gleam shining underneath all that pain and suffering about a future she’s dreadful about. Alex finally takes a sharp intake of breath and she smiles.

She smiles and she whispers “You might outlive us, Kara, but you will never, ever be alone.”

She feels Kara’s eyes upon her but she doesn’t face her, staring into nothing as she keeps talking.

“Wherever you go, wherever you will be, there will be people to be there for you. You’re a sun, Kara, people are drawn to you and they gravitate around you, you don’t even notice it. It takes some of us to point it out for you to realize how much you’re surrounded.” Her voice is very low and it’s barely a breath but she knows Kara can hear her.

“You will have people and even though it won’t be us, we will still be with you somehow. You will have memories and souvenirs and for a while, those will be painful yes. You’re going to feel sad, empty, lost and angry but one day, you will love those images of your past, you will love them fondly. Everyone goes through grief and loss at some point in our life. Yes, you are an alien and you will live longer, you will experience it more than anyone else in the world but … you will also see wonders, Kara. You love the whole Humanity, you have faith in it so you will see it rise and fall, you will see newborns, progresses, kindness and goodness of heart but above all of this, you will witness love, over and over and over again.” Alex says and she smiles again.

Kara doesn’t speak and Alex stares at her for a while, noticing the tears are still there, shining in her sister’s eyes but they’re not falling. She assumes it’s a step up.

“We will lose mom and then plenty of other people we love. You will lose Cat and then me and then James and Winn and Lucy. Carter too, one day. People are going to leave, because their lives will come to an end but it’s not necessarily bad you know. Living a full life is a blessing itself and besides, we are going to leave a legacy behind us. Children. Achievements. Actions the world will need to remember. You will have to watch over our legacy, guide it, protect it, cherish it.” Alex talks and talks, her voice sounding a little unreal, even to herself.

“You will never, ever be alone Kara. Yes, you will suffer grief and loss and it’s going to be hard, I can’t lie and you know it. But life is all about balance and you are going to make sure the world keeps spinning. You are the sun Kara and the world will always, always love you.”

She smiles again and it’s a little dreamy. Kara doesn’t speak yet but she seems calmer now, no tears on her cheeks and not even in her deep blue eyes.

Finally, finally, Kara smiles and it’s sad but almost peaceful. It’s not bright, it’s not sunny and it lacks hope but it’s something and Alex takes it.

Then she whispers “Are you going to stick around until the very end?”

Alex smirks and answers “ _Always._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys !
> 
> This was an AMAZING prompt I got on tumblr and I just loved it enough to put the result here on AO3. Let me know what you think of it!
> 
> You can submit your own prompt on my tumblr, **lost-your-memory**
> 
> And yes, I've stolen the title of Christina Perri's song for this little piece, it fits.
> 
> Reviews are always nice ♥


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